Reversing seat base with forward shift



March 3,1942. 0. E. HILL 2,274,896 REVERSING SEAT BASE WITH FORWARD SHIFT Filed Oct. 19, 1939 3 Shets- Sheet l March 3, 1942. o. E. HILL REVERSING SEAT BASE WITH FORWARD SHIFT 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 19, 195$]v March 3, 1942.

o. E. HILL 2,274,896

REVERSING SEAT BASE WITH FORWARD SHIFT Filed Oct. 19, 1939 s Sheets-Sheet 5 172M26 3) ww.v ----,Q@ M

Patented Mar. 3, 1942 REVERSING SEAT BASE WITHFORWARD" SHIFT Oiva E. Hill,.Gardner,.-Mass;,. assignor to Heywood-Wakefieldv Company, Gardner, Mass a corporation of Massachusetts Application catcher-19, 1939?.SrcrialNoi 300,102 g 6 Claims. .(01. 155-96):

This invention relates to car-seat b-ase'sof the type whereby the seat reverses by rotation and at the same time shifts horizontally to avoid collision with th wall of the vehicle or with adjacent seats. car" as it is desirable that the seats be located as close to each other as is consistent with comfort inorder to obtain maximum seating capacity for the car. It is also desirable to place the seats as near as possible to the adjacent wall of' the vehicle so as to utilize substantially the entire width of the car for seat-width and aisle-width. Many seat-base mechanisms have heretofore been devised for shifting a care seat away from the wall during the initial portion of its reversing movement so that the corner of the seat will clear the wal-l as it turns.

According to the present invention, the seats are rearwardly oiiset onv their pedestals so that,

when alternate seats are reversed and are thus front-to-front or back-to-back, maximum spacing' is obtained between opposing front edges of seats which face each other, and minimum spacing is obtained between the seats which are backto-back. To avoid clashing between the backs of adjacent seats during reversing movement, mechanism is provided by which the seat is given a substantial forward shift during theinitialportion of the reversing movement. This separates the backs of adjacent back-to-back seats to permit the seats to turn withoutinterference. It is an object of the invention to provide cam mechani'sm by which such shifting movement is obtained with a smooth reversing movement-which is free from sticking or jerky action. v

Other advantageous features will be apparent from the disclosure of the invention in the'following description thereof, and from the drawings of which Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a vehicle floor showing a number of seats: mounted thereon.

Figure 2 is aside elevation of the. same.

Figure Sis a plan view of a member of :the seat frame.

Figure' l is a section on the line 4-4 of Figur 3.

Figure 5 is a' plan view of' a guide link for a car seat.

Figure dis a plan view of a pedestal for a car seat, showing thereon the frame member and guide link illustrated in Figures'3 and 5.

v Figure '7 is a sectional view on the line 1-1 of Figure 6.

In a vehicle such as a rail-road Figure. 8 is' a section onthe line ii -8 QtFigure '7.

Figures 9, 10, 11 and 12 sh'ow'the same members as are shown in Figure 6, the movable membersbeihg in different positions of' operation.

Figure 1 is a; partial plan view of a vehicle such as a railroad car indicating a portion of the floor HI and one of the side walls I2. A number of double seats 14 are indicated, some of these seats being in reversed position. As shown Figure 2; each of these seats may comprise a. stationary pedestal ZEI'onwhich is mounted a seat name 22carrying a cushion 24, theseat frame ma e-a6 frames 26 carrying arm rests "2-8; and backs 30 which are preferably adjustable. In order to conserve space within the vehicle, the

seatsare preferably arranged so that, when two seats are back-t'o back, the tops of 'thebacks will beclose together as indicatedin Figures 1 and 2. It isfevident that with seats arranged as shown, some provision must be made to prevent interference between the backs of the seats when one seat is rotated to its other position of use. It is.- desirable that the seats be capable of'rotation without tilting the backs forward as could be done to avoid interference. According to the present invention, the entire seat is caused to shift forward "a substantial distance during the initial. portion of a turn, the backs of the seat thus avoiding interference with the back of the adj acen't seat. V v Cam mechanism for effecting forward shifting movement of each-seat as it start to turn and for causing acorresponding rearward movement of the seat. duringthe final portion of the turn is 'il-lustrated'in Figure 6. Astherein shown, the pedestal 29-15 provided with a'flat top 32 having anaperture 3t therein which is roughly triangular. One of the side 35 of the triangle isa straight line para11eland adjacent to the frontto-rear median of the seat when the seat is in either position for use. Theother two sides 38 and 40- of the triangle are chiefly arcuate in shape. The seat frame illis'preferably adapted to-slide. on the plane top 32 of the'pedestal and its movementsthereonvare guided by. cam mechanism-including aguidelink: 42 such as is shown in Figures 5; 7 and 8: This guid link is elongated and at the: ends thereof are cam followers 44 and 46 which'engage'the cam edges 3'5, 38 and 40 and movealong these edges during rotative movement of the seat. During the first half ofisuch rotative movement ofthe link, its center point moves horizontally awayfrom one end of the pedestal and; moves back towards; said'endofjthe pedestal during the final half of a rotative movement, in a, manner similar to that described and illustrated in Patent No. 2,215,817. In the present invention, the seat carriage, instead of being fixed on the link 42, is movable relatively thereto in a straight line by virtue of a pin and slot connection. The seat carriag partakes of the rotational movements of the link, such movements being modified by cam-controlled horizontal sliding movements of the carriage relative to the link. The cam followers 44 and 46 are coaxial; respectively, with a pair of studs 50 and52 which tained in its forward position relative to the guide link until the position shown in Figure 11 is reached. At this stage the cam follower 66 is about to ride clear of the cam edge 16 and the cam follower 64 is coming into engagement with a cam edge 18 which corresponds to the cam edge 12. Further rotation to the position shown in Figure 12 results in a rapid rearward movement of the seat relative to the guide link, so that when the seat reaches its reversed position of use, it is L .in its rearmost position relative to the guide link project upward from the link 42 and which are slidable in elongated slots 54 and 56 in the frame 42. The cam edges around the aperture 34 and the cam edges on the plate 10 cooperate to shift the seat horizontally during its rotating movements, the cam edges being shaped as shown to avoidebruptchanges in direction or speed of horizontal movement of the center point of the seat during reversal thereof, thus ensuring a thereof, the long axis of the member indicating the direction in which the seat faces atIany mo:

ment. Since the studs 50 and 52 ride inthe slots 54 and 56, respectively, the guide link 42 is maintained at all times parallel to the bar 60, so that as the seat is reversed the rotative movement of the bar 60 is accompanied by similar rotative movement by'the link 42. Thus the bar 60 and the link 42 rotate together but are relatively slidable longitudinally, such sliding movement being limited .by the length of the slots 54 and 56. Figures 6,v 9, 10, 11 and 12 represent successive positions through which the bar 60 and the link 42 pass when'the seat is being reversed.

Permanently secured to the bar 66 so as to be a part thereof is a doublebracket 62, at the ends of which are a pair of cam followers 64 and 66. These cam followers are below the level of the pedestal top 32 when the seat is assembled and engage cam edges formed on a cam plate 10 which is secured to the pedestal below the top 32, as indicated in Figure 7. The cam edges of the plate 10 are so designed as to control the movements of the seat relative to the guide link 42 during the reversals of the seat. The movement of the seat relative to the pedestal is further modified by the engagement of the cam followers 50 and 52 on the guide link 42 against the edges of the aperture 34.

The action of the two sets of cam edges during the reversing movement of the seat can be observed by comparing the positions of the parts shown in Figures 6, 9, 10, 11 and 12, the progress of rotation of the seat being indicated by the positions of the bar 69. Figure 6 shows the position of the seat-frame bar 66 when the seat is in one of its positions for use; the back of the seat being over the right-hand end of the bar. Reversing movement of the seat is brought about by rotating the seat in a clockwise direction. This causes the cam follower 46 to travel along the arcuate cam edge 38 while the cam follower 44 remains in its corner. At the same time the cam follower 66 rides along a suitably curved cam edge 72, which, as indicated in Figure 9, has the effectof quickly shifting the seat forward as far as the slots 54 and 56 will permit. A the cam follower 66 leaves the edge 12, the cam follower 64 rides onto a cam edge 14 of the plate 10 so as to maintain the seat in its forward position relative to the guide link while the seat is moving through theposition illustrated in Figure 10. At this stage, the cam follower 46 on the guide link has reached the corner between the cam edges 38 and 49. At the same time the cam follower 64 is about to ride clear of the cam edge 74 while the cam follower 66 rides onto a corresponding cam edge 16. Thus the seat continues to be mainsmooth, continuous swing of the seat from one position to the other.

Details of the structure of the guide link are illustratedin Figures '7 and 8 which indicate that the link may be substantially hollow or channelled and may be provided with arcuate end pieces and 82 one of which is axially movable with respect to the body of the link, being mounted on a stem 84 which telescopes into an end of the body of the link 42. Inward movement of the stem 84 is against the pressure of a compression spring 86 suitably mounted within the link. The end pieces 80 and 82 fit into arcuate recesses in fixed castings 88 and 96 carried by the side rails of the pedestal so as to maintain the link, and therefore the seat itself, yieldingly in either of its reversed positions. A fixed lug 92 underneath the end piece 88 engages a shoulder 94 on the casting 88 or a similar shoulder 96 on the casting to limit the rotative movement of the seat to a half turn, that is, Immediately below the cam followers 44 and are circular elements IUEI and H32 which project under the top 32 adjacent to the edges of the aperture 34 to serve as holddown elements maintaining the seat in an upright positionon the pedestal.

Itis evident that various modifications and changes may be made in the embodiments of the invention herein shown and described without departing from the spirit and scope thereof [as defined in the'following claims.

1. A' reversing seat-base mechanism comprising a stationary pedestal including a top with cam edges thereon, a seat frame rotatable on said pedestal 180 from one position for use to the reversed'position, and means guiding said seat frame in its reversing movements, said guiding means including an elongated guide link extending in a. front-to-rear direction when the seat is in either position for use and slidably connected to said frame for movement relative to said frame in the direction of the long axis-only of the link, a pair of cam followers at the ends of said link arranged to move along and be guided by said cam edges during reversing movementsof said seat frame, said cam edges being shaped to cause the center point of the link to move away from one end of the pedestal during the initial portion of a reversing movement of the link and seat frame and to move back toward said end of the pedestal durin the final portion of said reversing movement, a pair of cam followers mounted on said seat frame, and stationary cam edges engaged by said last-mentioned followers to slide said seat frame On said guide link during the initial and final'stages of the reversirigmovements of the'seat frame. Y

2. A reversing seat-base mechanism comprising a stationary pedestal including a top having an opening therein forming cam edges, a cam plate mounted parallel to said top and formed with cam edges, a seat frame rotatable on said top 180 from one position of use to the reversed position, a guide link between said pedestal and seat frame to modify the reversing movements of said seat frame, means on said link and frame preventing relative movements thereof other than in the direction of the long axis of the link, a pair of cam followers on said link engaging the cam edges on said top, and a pair of cam followers on said frame engaging the cam edge on said plate to control the shifting movement of the seat frame relative to said link during reversing movements of the frame and link.

3. A reversing seat-base mechanism comprising a stationary pedestal having an approximately triangular aperture in the top thereof forming cam edges, a reversible seat frame on said pedestal having a pair of alined slots on the longitudinal median thereof, a guide link having upstanding studs at its ends slidable in said slots respectively, a pair of cam followers at the ends of said link normally located in two corners of said aperture but movable along the edges thereof during reversing movements, a pair of cam followers secured to said frame, and stationary cam means engaged by said last-named followers to cause the frame to slide on said link during the initial and final stages of the reversing movements of the seat frame.

4. A reversing seat-base mechanism comprising a stationary pedestal having an aperture in the top thereof forming cam edges, a seat frame movable on said pedestal to reverse its position thereon, a link between said pedestal and said frame upon which the frame is carried during the reversing movements of the frame, said frame including a bar extending along the longitudinal median of the frame and provided with a pair of elongated alined slots, a pair of studs on said link extending through said slots respectively and slidable therein whereby said link is maintained in the longitudinal median plane of the frame, a cam follower at each end of said link engaging said cam edges to guide the movements of said link during reversing movements'of the seat, a pair of cam followers carried by said bar, and stationary cam means engaged by said last-mentioned cam followers to cause said frame to slide on said guide link during the initial and final stages of the reversing movements of the frame.

5. A reversing seat-base mechanism comprising a stationary pedestal having an aperture in the top thereof forming cam edges, a seat frame movable on said pedestal to reverse its position thereon, a link between said pedestal and said frame upon which the frame is carried during the reversing movements of the frame, said frame including a bar extending-along the longitudinal median of the frame and provided with a pair of elongated alined slots, a pair of studs on said link extending through said slots respectively and slidable therein whereby said link is maintained in the longitudinal median plane of the frame, a cam follower at each end of said link engaging said cam edges to guide the movements of said link during reversing movements of the seat, a stationary cam plate mounted within said pedestal below the top thereof, a transverse bracket secured to said bar and extending down through the aperture in the pedestal top, and a pair of cam followers carried by said bracket and engaging said cam plate to cause the frame to slide on the link during the initial and final stages of the reversing movements of the seat.

6. A reversing seat-base mechanism comprising a stationary pedestal, a seat frame rotatable on said pedestal from one position for use to the reversed position and horizontally movable during rotation, and means for controlling the horizontal movements of said frame during rotation, said means including a guide link member connecting said frame to said pedestal and rotatable with said frame 180, cam means on said pedestal and guide link controlling movements of said guide link relative to said pedestal, means limiting the movements of said frame relative to said guide link to a straight line, and cam means on said pedestal and frame controlling the movements of said frame relative to said guide link during rotation of said guide link and frame.

OIVA E. HILL. 

